Should Congress Spend Hours A Day Asking for Donations? Congressman Turner's Office Did Not Answer.

The Stop Act, a.k.a. HR 4443, would prohibit members of Congress from directly calling potential donors for campaign contributions. Members of Congress have been spending 25-30 hours a week calling potential donors, something Representative David Jolly (R) seeks to end with The Stop Act.

The Kent State University Computer-Assisted Reporting class contacted Ohio representatives to find out if they were in favor of or opposed the act. Congressman Turner's Office did not respond to our request for the following information:

•  Is Congressman Turner in favor or opposed to the Stop Act?
•  How many hours a day/week does Congressman Mike Turner spend calling for campaign donations?
• Has Congressman Mike Turner publicly objected to the amount of time members are expected to spend fund raising? If so, where and how did he do that?
• If Congressman Mike Turner has not objected, why not?

"Your first responsibility is to raise $18,000 a day." Jolly said. Congress members are expected to cold call a list that gives them a a background on the potential donor, and gives a flow chart for yes/no responses to their requests. It also outlines if the donor's voicemail or assistant answers.

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I believe The Stop Act is necessary step to improving our increasingly unproductive Congress. I doubt many American's elected their representatives so they could spend a significant portion of their work days trying to get donations, especially when cold calling for dollars could be used to get work done.

"You never see a committee work through lunch because those are your fund raising times." Jolly said in 60 Minutes report on Congressional dialing for dollars.